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Monday, February 9, 2009

Boston Marathon Training Update - Week 7

Wow, what a difference a week makes! After complaining in my last training update about running slow and falling short on distance, I ended up having my best training week ever this week.Not only was my average pace 15 seconds per mile faster than any week of training I’ve ever had, I also ended up running almost five miles longer than I had planned.(It was originally supposed to be a step-back week this week – Oops!)The best part of all of this is that I still have had no injuries to report.Sweet!

Week #7 (2/2-2/8)

What I Planned:

Tempo Run: 7 total miles with 5 tempo miles at 6:37 pace

General Aerobic Run: 6 miles at 7:15 pace

Recovery Run: 4 miles at easy pace

Bronx Half Marathon: 13.1 miles at race pace

Total week 7 distance: 30 miles

What I Ran:

Tempo Treadmill Run: 7.5 miles; 5 miles at 6:26 pace [Avg HR 169]

General Aerobic Treadmill Run: 8.7 miles at 6:54 pace [Avg HR 156]

Recovery Run: 5.2 miles at 6:21 pace [Avg HR 163]

Bronx Half Marathon: 13.1 miles at 6:34 pace [Avg HR 165]

Total week 7 distance: 34.5 miles; avg pace – 6:39 min/mi

How I Ran:

My week of training began with a tough treadmill tempo run. I was looking for a more challenging workout than last week’s tempo run, when despite my internal struggles, the heart rate never rose into my target training zone. So I cranked the incline up to 5% for this attempt. Five miles later, I was done and happy with the fast distance I hammered out on the treadmill. The next day, in what was scheduled to be an easy treadmill recovery run, I was encouraged by the music/podcasts and ran 8.68 miles in exactly an hour. Recovery was not to be found even in the following day’s workout when I ran the Central Park’s Lower Loop and ended with 5.17 miles in 32:53. All these fast training runs culminated in a spectacular race yesterday when I ran the Bronx Half Marathon in 1:26:10, my second best time ever.

I’m encouraged knowing that I’m running and racing almost in mid-season form, and yet I still have not yet reach the pinnacle of this training cycle and have the whole rest of the year to improve on my racing as well. How much faster can I get? Currently, I’m scheduled to run at least 4 more half-marathons this year, so I’ll get that many more cracks at breaking 1:25, which unofficially is my 2009 goal for the 13.1 mile race distance.

If I don't say this enough, thanks to all of you for reading and supporting me through this crazy adventure. Have a great week, everyone!